(b) by stating the Phrase Structure (PS) Rules in the form
of “re-write” rules: XàX Z

(e.g., SàNP VP)

Three
important linguistic principlesQ: What makes us able to distinguish between grammatical
and ungrammatical sentences?

A: The
“mental grammar” or the “linguistic competence” in our mind does.

The first principle proposed by Chomsky is(1) Language is a mental fact.

How many sentences do you think you can arrange from
these words?

"saw – tigers – Wilson"

(1) *Saw tigers Wilson
(ill-formed)

(2) *Saw Wilson tigers (ill-formed)

(3) Tigers saw Wilson (unusual
meaning)

(4) *Tigers Wilson saw (ill-formed)

(5) Wilson saw tigers
(well-formed)

(6) *Wilson tigers
saw (ill-formed)

Q: Can language imitated
and produced by parrot be called a language?

A: (2) Language is innate in the
sense that every human child is endowed with the LAD (language acquisition
device). It is this LAD that makes
language acquisition possible. Note
that the LAD is species-specific, that is, only humans—but not animals—have the
LAD. Therefore, only humans—but not animals—can acquire human
language.

Q:Can you produce an English sentence/ utterance that
never be used by any other human in this surface of the earth?